WATERVILLE, Maine – The University of Maine at Farmington women's track and field team entered this weekend's North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Championship seeded to finish 43 points behind first place. The Beavers, however, stunned everyone, making history and earning their first NAC Championship in program history.
The Beavers took home the title by the slimmest of margins, topping Thomas College by just two points, totaling 193 compared to the Terriers' 191.
The final decision came down to the last two events. Senior thrower Kaitlyn Harmon-Bolding narrowly made it into the finals of the discus, entering the final round in seventh place. With her final three throws, Harmon-Bolding moved up to fourth place, earning four of the biggest points of the day for the Beavers. A fifth-place finish would have resulted in a tie with Thomas. Harmon-Bolding's clutch fourth-place throw measured 29.57 meters on her final attempt. Meanwhile, the foursome of Cara Perry (Stoughton, Mass.), Lina Martinez Nocito (Mt. Vernon, Maine), Anna MacDonald (Bangor, Maine), and Carrie Burr (Pittsfield, Maine) secured ten crucial points in the 4x400-meter relay, posting a time of 4:37.79. Thomas placed fourth out of four teams in the event.
In addition to the 4x400, the group of Perry, Burr, Kennedy Todd (Scarborough, Maine), and Erica Johnson (Nobleboro, Maine) grabbed first place in the 4x100-meter relay, posting a time of 51.76 seconds.
Farmington was led by the duo of Burr and MacDonald, who combined to score 64 individual points, each contributing 32. Including relay points, Burr scored 52 points, while MacDonald was involved in 42 points. Burr's 52 points set a program record for a Beaver at a conference championship meet.
Burr earned first place in the 400-meter hurdles, second in the 100 meters, third in the high jump, fourth in the javelin, fifth in the 200 meters, sixth in the 100-meter hurdles, and sixth in the long jump, scoring in every event she competed in. She finished the 100 meters in 13.32 seconds, the 200 meters in 29.40 seconds, the 100-meter hurdles in 19.01 seconds, and the 400-meter hurdles in 1:13.02 to become a NAC Champion. In the field events, she cleared 1.46 meters in the high jump, reached 4.64 meters in the long jump, and recorded a best javelin throw of 27.11 meters.
MacDonald earned individual NAC Championship honors in the 800 meters and posted second-place finishes in both the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000 meters, while placing third in the 400-meter hurdles. MacDonald edged out Martinez Nocito in the 800 meters, finishing with a time of 2:35.04 compared to Martinez Nocito's 2:35.15. In the 5,000 meters, MacDonald finished behind Eve Poteet (Fair Hill, Maryland), who won in 20:02.43. MacDonald posted a time of 20:09.90.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, MacDonald cruised to a second-place finish, crossing the line in 12:08.70.
Erica Johnson added 30 individual points of her own. She was crowned NAC Champion in the triple jump with a best attempt of 10.43 meters. Johnson also took third place in the 100 meters (13.56 seconds), second in the 100-meter hurdles (17.17 seconds), third in the pole vault (2.35 meters), and sixth in the 200 meters (29.91 seconds).
Perry placed inside the top five in a pair of events, finishing third in the 200 meters (28.72 seconds) and fourth in the 100 meters (13.78 seconds).
Poteet had a strong day as well, registering 22 individual points with a first-place finish in the 5,000 meters, a third-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (12:59.20), and a fourth-place finish in the 1,500 meters (5:24.12).
Martinez Nocito earned 20 individual points, crowned the NAC Champion in the 1,500 meters with a winning time of 5:16.12. She added eight points with her second-place finish in the 800 meters and secured two more points with a fifth-place finish in the 5,000 meters (20:56.55).
Todd scored in every event she competed in, placing fourth in the 200 meters (29.00 seconds), fourth in the 400 meters (1:06.73), and fifth in the high jump (1.36 meters).
Emma Syphers (Bangor, Maine) took third in the long jump with a best attempt of 4.84 meters and added a fifth-place finish in the high jump (1.36 meters).
Harmon-Bolding added an important fourth-place finish in the hammer throw with her best mark measuring 34.32 meters.
Abby MacDonald (Bangor, Maine) and Monica Lewis (Windham, Maine) also scored meaningful points. Abby MacDonald placed fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (23:09.46), while Lewis placed sixth in both the 800 meters (2:54.92) and the pole vault (2.20 meters).
The Beavers will now turn their focus to the New England Championship next weekend at the Coast Guard Academy.
